Should You Give Away an iPhone App?

Giving away useful things to others can help you get some exposure on the World Wide Web, and potentially attract new customers (and readers). There was a time that giving away WordPress themes and plug-ins was a novelty. Folks who had the skills to write code could write simple themes and plug-ins and gave it away in return for backlinks. With the emergence of the iPhone, it seems giving away applications is becoming a norm now. But should you give away your application for free?

It really depends on your overall strategy. If your goal is to make quick bucks, you can just ask folks to pay for your apps right away. I personally like to think long-term. You can always give away something for free and use the goodwill and exposure you get to make folks want to buy your paid applications. You can also create standard and professional versions of your app and ask folks to pay for the premium features available with your pro edition.

Should you give away your iPhone app? It’s really up to you. If you have 3 apps ready to go, you may afford to give one away to gain exposure for the other two. But if you have spent 6 months to create an iPhone application, unless you don’t need the money you probably don’t afford to give your app away for free.